Recipes, reviews and recreation with the Madhouse Family - two parents, three kids, two dogs, all bilingual !

Saturday, 2 March 2013

Viakal Limescale Remover review

Along with a whole host of other Savvy Circle members, I've been trialling Viakal Limescale Remover over the past few weeks. Ever since we've lived at The Madhouse - we moved in when I was pregnant with Sophie so that's over a decade ago - there has been limescale around the taps in the kitchen and bathroom and there are grimy water marks in the sink that no cleaning product has ever managed to shift. We installed a shower cubicle and it now has the equivalent of frosted glass, due to a scuzzy limescale coating all over the plastic panels. I was hoping that Viakal would give me a nice, sparkling bathroom and kitchen, but didn't really expect it to tackle these problem areas. Here's an idea of what it has to deal with.

Before pulling on my rubber gloves, I headed over to the Viakal project blog to find out more about the product and learnt a lot about limescale at the same time. I knew that limescale was mainly a problem in hard water areas such as ours, but I didn't know that it is created when hard water dries and evaporates, leaving calcium bicarbonate behind. Viakal has developed a limescale remover with a unique polymer pro-shine technology (whatever that means), which works in three ways : an acidic system works to remove unsightly limescale and watermarks, a thick formula allows the product to remain in contact with the surface for longer, and the surfactants remove bathroom soil.

Well, that's all great in theory but would it work? Time to get cleaning in the bathroom ! I sprayed it all over the sink and taps and left it for a few minutes to give it the best chance of working. It comes out as a thin foam - I was expecting something more substantial as they'd mentioned a thick formula. A few minutes later, I used a cloth to wipe off the mousse then rinsed it.

I couldn't believe it - those grimy stains on the sink that I'd given up trying to remove because nothing - including other limescale products - would shift them had just disappeared in a flash !

The taps weren't perfect but they were a lot better. Here are the before and after photos and you can certainly see the difference.

There was still some incrusted limescale under the taps though so I decided to give it another spray and leave it to do its magic for a bit longer.

It's still not totally perfect but it did remove a lot more the second time so I think using this regularly would eventually make it totally sparkle.

I decided to tackle another problem area - the shower stall. I sprayed it over a couple of the panels, left it for a few minutes then rinsed it off, leaving the other side untreated so I could compare the two. Exactly as for the sink, it's certainly not perfect but it has visibly reduced the limescale residue and I think after regular use, it would be even better.

I had a paper cut on my finger which really stang when the Viakal foam got into it, but apart from that, I didn't find it irritated or dried out my hands, as I expected. It smells very pleasant too. I'll definitely be using this regularly and am confident that I'll end up with a shiny, sparkly, deep-cleaned bathroom. Just the kitchen to tackle after that !

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £3.20 for 500ml (but currently £2 at Tesco and you can find a 50p off vouchere here too)

Meet the Madhouse Family !

About Me

I'm mum to Sophie (born in 2001), Juliette (born in 2005) and Pierre (born in 2009). We're all French/English bilingual - even our two dogs Didou and Vicky ! If you have any comments or want me to review your products or host a giveaway, you can contact me at cherylpasquier2002@yahoo.fr .

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